# Building my dream. "Humidor"



## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

Lets face it. We all have came upon a time when we needed more space for our stuff. Stuff being just plane ole stuff, all the way up to our family needing more space. Well that time has came for my cigars. I made sure all the wife and kiddos stuff had a brand new house to play in. We were moving anyway. New baby on the horizon meant we needed a much larger house. That said .....the wife could not have anything to say about my building a humidor. Now I was currently using a desktop humidor and it sucked. Good lesson. Price is NOT always indicative of quality when it comes to humidors.

The quest...I wanted my dream. Sit back and think of your dream humidor. Well that ones out of the question. I cannot have a walk in humidor with a smoking area. New baby in the house remember. Moving on. What did I need. Space. Some classy space at that. I didn't want just a box. I wanted one to resemble a store front. You know. Fill it up get a chair and have a conversation with fellow BOTL around it.

So it began. I had no plan just an idea of the size. Don't all good things begin this way. I knew one thing. It was either gonna turn out one of two ways. Great or my wife saying something like this "I told you that WE didn't need a new humidor!" Why do they always say WE? I digress.

Lowes trip and a few hrs later I have this


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## danmdevries (Jan 31, 2014)

Looks like a good start


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

Having a hard time uploading photos

Thank I'm not gonna lie. Three kids in my house. That actually took me a week to build. I built the bulk of the box out of 3/4" furniture grade birch plywood. The base trim is white oak and the crown is run of the mill crown. I am not a carpenter and crown is hard enough to do. Im not gonna waste funds on expensive trim. Now looking at this monster my son got inside of it, i thought hey I have a walk in! A very leaky one at that. So the hardest part of the build. A door! Like I said. I want this to look like a store front. I decided to build a solid pane glass door. This door was gonna be incredibly heavy. I used three euro hinges to attach the frame to the body of the humidor. The frame of the door is made of white oak for linear strength.


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## DarrelMorris (Feb 7, 2012)

I can't wait to see how this comes out.


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)




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## brimy623 (May 25, 2013)

Looks like you're well on your way to a beautiful/functional piece of furniture there!

And the fact that you're building it yourself will be extremely gratifying once done!:thumb::clap2:


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## Cigar-Enthusiast (Feb 2, 2014)

Good luck with the build! It's coming out great so far.


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

Thanks for all the compliments. It very satisfying to do a project like this with your own hands. Especially a humidor. They almost take on a life of their own. The next part was the only part that I asked my wife's input on. Not that I was rude but she really didn't care about the construction of it. I wanted her to pick the shade of stain. If this things is going in the dining room then it better match the rest of the furniture. My friends that's not a decision I wanted to hear about for the rest of my days if it was the wrong color. The exterior of the cabinet was finished in red mahogany minwax stain. I applied 5 coats of stain sanding with 12000 grit between each application. Both sides of the door frame were stained. I didn't feel that this small amount of stain on the inside would affect the humidor in any way. Once the stain had cured I applied 6 coats of arm r seal. Sanding between each coat as well.


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)




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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)




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## danmdevries (Jan 31, 2014)

Oh wow. First post I thought this was going to be an ongoing thread. 

That cabinet looks amazing! 

Excellent job!


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## Ahab (Mar 16, 2013)

looks great


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## TJB (Dec 10, 2012)

Going to line that thing with spanish cedar right? It looks really nice so far good job.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Jpickett said:


> View attachment 48407


I know you said your not a Carpenter. I am a master Carpenter and i think you did a great job!
R/G for you sir!


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## jhedrick83 (Dec 4, 2012)

Looks awesome!


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## Tgs679 (Mar 2, 2014)

Jpickett said:


> View attachment 48407


I Have been a carpenter and cabinet builder for over 15 years and that came out very nice. great work.


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## MDSPHOTO (Sep 10, 2013)

TonyBrooklyn said:


> I know you said your not a Carpenter. I am a master Carpenter and i think you did a great job!
> R/G for you sir!


I agree with Tony it does not look like a novice build! I wish I had an ounce of the talent you guys have I would certainly build an exotic cabinet.


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

Thanks to all for the kind compliments. I can assure you that I'm not a professional. Just a perfectionist. One who loves to use his hands. Dan it is an ongoing thread to say. Tj yes it is going to be lined with 1/8 Spanish cedar. I found a great supplier who custom cut each piece for this project. Non seam where I didn't want one.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

MDSPHOTO said:


> I agree with Tony it does not look like a novice build! I wish I had an ounce of the talent you guys have I would certainly build an exotic cabinet.


This may be true but you are the most interesting man in the world!
"Stay thirsty my friend":rockon:


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

Thirsty I am. Thirsty for a new bottle of bourbon. Moving on. Glass was the next chapter. I ordered a 3/16 tempered piece of glass for the door. In the door frame I milled out a 1/2 mortise on the inside of the frame. This allowed me to run a bead of silicone around the frame to seal the glass. Once that had sat I installed a oak nail strip to the back side of the glass. Thus hiding the silicone and adding a finished edge. While I was doing the glass work I had my cedar resting in a cooler. Why a cooler you ask. Well I was bringing it up to the proper RH. I wanted to fit all the pieces into place with them swollen. This would eliminate and bucking of the wood when it was humidified. Man this is alot of work.


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

Pic of the joinery


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## maddevildog (Feb 23, 2014)

Damn! What else is there to say about that.


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## ProjectSunfire (Mar 30, 2011)

you went from a desktop to this? well played sir


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

Haha. I dunno. Because this is around the time my wife stepped out into the garage and said. "Damn Joshua. Do you really think you need on that big?"  I grinned and lit up a cigar. She rolled her eyes and went back inside. She hates cigar smoke.

I began to think. How am I going to humidify this behemoth? I just knew that the Oasis XL Plus I had was out of the question. The few qualifications that this system had to have was....electronic..set it and know its exactly on what it's set on and capicity to humidify a room if need be. Well luck be a lady I actually found a digital humidity controller on ebay. Get this for a whole $20. Roll the dice. Next. What's this controller going to control. Plastic bucket with a fan on it was the first idea. But I couldn't just do that. Time to call back on my acrylic build skills. Okay I own an custom acrylic company. So this is a small black fish tank with a fan on it. No need for a humidifier wick. They grow nasties on them. Out of respect I am not gonna show completed pics of the humidifier. It's a lot like a mass produced unit. Trust me enough is changed to not cause patent infringement issues. Pic of acrylic on strip bender. Not to code n any way. So don't make one.


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## MDSPHOTO (Sep 10, 2013)

Jpickett said:


> Pic of the joinery
> View attachment 48416


The last time a saw a joint that nice was in a Cheech & Chong movie!:smoke2::smoke2:


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## Ricardo- (Feb 26, 2014)

Very nice work. What are you planning for the door seal?


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

I'm going to use 1/2 x 1/4" brown foam weather strip for the door seal


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

Okay. So the doors constructed and sealed with foam. Security was the next task. Last thing I wanted to find was my two yr old eating cigars or stuck inside this box. A lock is in order. Just a regular cabinet lock was set. Boring isn't it. Now onto what these cigars are gonna be sleeping on. I know what your thinking. A shelf stupid. I was thinking the same thing. BUT...I'm still wanting that wow factor. I decided to work on two sliding shelves. These shelves would have bins built in them to hold loose cigars. Above these shelves I wanted one solid shelf to place cutters lighters, and other cool tobacco related swag. This was the end result.


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)




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## tjhemp (Dec 29, 2013)

Amazing build. I'm jealous of the humidor and the talent.


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## gtechva (Mar 9, 2014)

Are you sure you're not a carpenter?

I will not covet Joshua's humidor. I will not covet Joshua's humidor. I will not covet Joshua's humidor.

That's better.

Kidding a side, very nice.


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## Corvus (Mar 5, 2014)

Not a carpenter my ass! That thing is majestic. Very well done sir.


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

Thanks for all the kind words. I just wanted to document this to see what others thought of it. As well as show the process I went through to make the humidor. I can assure you I am not a carpenter. The only tools I used on this build is a table saw, miter saw, and a router table...drills p, caulk guns etc. I have to admit I am a protectionist. On my deck I measured the spacing of the flooring screws.... The last woodworking project I did I used Popsicle sticks and Elmer's glue. I just love using my hands. Anyone know why the pics are not showing up on my iPad. They show up on my phone. FYI if they r not showing up let me know. My last two post had pics in them pls tell me.

Oh and if you want to know. I own and operate a grounds keeping company. Nothing like carpentry


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## TMat (Jan 24, 2014)

Jpickett said:


> My last two post had pics in them pls tell me.


Yes your last two post had photos and they are very beautiful! Very well thought out. Thanks for sharing!!


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## boofoo502 (Aug 20, 2013)

That is one slick piece sir. You should enter it in the KYstate fair they have a woodworking section with a few humidor's every year and that would blow away the entries I've seen lately.

Of course the downside is you wouldn't have it to store sticks for a few weeks.


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

Thank you James. I've never looked at that part of the fair. Do they have any larger humidors? or are they all smaller desktop size? With the number of cigars in it combigned with the weight of this piece there's no way I'm moving it. Would be cool to show it off a bit. But this forum is a lot safer than moving it.

Well I finally got the top three shelves installed to a spec that I liked. Now I needed a classy way to store boxes of cigars. I was presented with a unique problem. I was out of wood. Out of the 1/8" cedar. Out of the ply. That didn't bother me much because I didn't want thick shelves anyway. Looking around the garage I had a single piece of 1" oak. Then it hit me. I accidentally ordered 1/4" cedar in the beginning of this project. It wasn't enough to line the humidor. Problem solved. I decided to make two slat shelves.


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)




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## boofoo502 (Aug 20, 2013)

Desktops, and chest mainly.


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## MDSPHOTO (Sep 10, 2013)

Finished product looks awesome, can't wait to see it all filled up. What was your total cost for materials?


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

She ain't done David. I know what your thinking. What else is there?

Ill tell you the total. But later. I'd like to hear some cost guess from y'all. I will tell you I have close to 150 hrs in this build. But that's a few cigars and ALOT of bourbon. Smoke in my eyes slowed me down.


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## rhounsell (Nov 3, 2013)

Just an amazing build, period.

Congratulations on having an entirely personal and one of a kind humidor for your sticks!


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## MDSPHOTO (Sep 10, 2013)

Jpickett said:


> She ain't done David. I know what your thinking. What else is there?
> 
> Ill tell you the total. But later. I'd like to hear some cost guess from y'all. I will tell you I have close to 150 hrs in this build. But that's a few cigars and ALOT of bourbon. Smoke in my eyes slowed me down.


I did not even ask about labor, cause I know if you had to add that to the total it would have been cheaper to have one of the big guys build you a custom unit. But regardless of the time investment you have something you built with your own two hands and can be proud of for the rest of your life, and you have a lot of leftover cash to fill it! I'll take a stab at a cost for the wood, cedar, glass, stain, metal at $325.


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

Thomas nthanks for informing me on the status of the photos. Wow. You got really close. I have right at $450 in the entire build project. Your absolutely correct about the leftover funds. I looked at aristrocrat humidors. None felt like me and the price hurt real bad. They have amazing products that for sure. Way better than anything I can build.

Well back to the fun part. I hooked up the electronics in the humidor and got the thing seasoned. That wasn't a real concern. Crazy statement isn't that. But I felt that with such a huge humidifier in this thing it wouldn't take long. I have a moisture meter and had been watching the wood along the build process. Our outside humidity was now avg in the 60's. KY is humid this time of yr. Resting the humidor was at the mid 50's. I installed two 60mm fans on the rear blowing up. This was away from the moisture and temp sensors in the rear. In the pics following don't pay attention to the LED read outs values. Either the door had just been shut. The RH stays at a what ever degree you set it at. I did have a hard time adjusting the sensor to neutral. The instructions for the controller were translated rather oddly. I finally found some REAL English instructions and had it adjusted within a minute. Along the verticle parts of the inside door frame I installed warm white LED strips. These are wired to a door switch so that your not blinded when you open the door.


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

As you can see the humidor didn't have that old tobacco shop feel. So with some help from a friend who just so happens to own a graphics company. Well we added that feel. So with great appreciation to all your kind compliments and encouraging words. Here is my little tobacco shop. The P logo on the bottom is the logo for my company. Just felt right. I mean. The top of that P is a leaf.


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## gtechva (Mar 9, 2014)

Wow...


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## Cigar-Enthusiast (Feb 2, 2014)

Jpickett said:


> As you can see the humidor didn't have that old tobacco shop feel. So with some help from a friend who just so happens to own a graphics company. Well we added that feel. So with great appreciation to all your kind compliments and encouraging words. Here is my little tobacco shop. The P logo on the bottom is the logo for my company. Just felt right. I mean. The top of that P is a leaf.
> 
> View attachment 48448


That's a beautiful humidor. Thanks for the update!


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## Skeat5353 (Mar 15, 2014)

Beeeeeeaaaaayyyyyuuuuutifullllllll!!!!


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## pdq_wizzard (Mar 15, 2014)

that is sweet!


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## McMeggieG (Feb 1, 2014)

This is awesome! Great Job!


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## Jeff_2pra (Feb 14, 2014)

That looks amazing. Great work.


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## hott wheellzz (Feb 7, 2014)

This looks great! I like that everything isn't crammed in there, very nice!


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## Ricardo- (Feb 26, 2014)

Beautiful job. You could make a living out of those......


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## WNYTony (Feb 12, 2014)

That's a really nice box Joshua - my wife might even let me put something like that in the "common area" ! Great job and sounds like, even though you were grinding on every detail, you had a lot of fun doing it. Now you've got me thinking.......


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

WNYTony said:


> That's a really nice box Joshua - my wife might even let me put something like that in the "common area" ! Great job and sounds like, even though you were grinding on every detail, you had a lot of fun doing it. Now you've got me thinking.......


Tony. That's great. Man I just got done shipping two boxes of Kentucky Fire Cured cigars to your state. I'm glad that this thread has sparked some ideas in a few. You know I was chewing idea after idea. In the end and All in all I built what I needed and some. It could hold a lot more. But that would loose that feel I was going for. This project really took momentum of its own.i would say at 90% of this build was formulated on the fly. JD from Drew Estates and I are personal friends. He wants me to build one for his office. I told him one day if he was lucky. Thus the reason for all the DE stuff inside. I know a build of this size seams daunting to alot of people. Trust me it was for me. But try it. In actuality its just a box within a box. Get that finished and make it classy, pretty, or modern. Whatever your style is. This ones not perfect by any means. But I have three kiddos and I knew it would get dinged up. So dont worry if its not perfect. Like someone said i made this with my hands. So be proud of it.

If anyone has questions about where to purchase the equipment or wood let me know. I'll be glad to pass that information along. 
Once again thanks for all the compliments and kind words. Next project. Rolling table. Nothing as nice as this. Shooting to look like it was pulled from a factory that used it for 50 yrs.


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## Cool Breeze (Jan 10, 2014)

Man that is so awesome.
Like has already been said, I'm jealous of both the humidor and the skill.


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## WNYTony (Feb 12, 2014)

Joshua - I am a controller for a retail chain so I've been watching a few of the displays we have (and usually get free from the vendors) and as soon as we start tossing them I plan to snag one and convert it to a nice box. I don't have the skills you displayed with all those router cuts and joints, but some of these display pieces would just need cedar lining and sealing to work. I have several glass showcases with the sliding glass doors that I see in many lower grade B&M's but they are 4' wide and I don't have that space. But there are some nice book and jewelry cases that I have my eye on that could be perfect - and the wife's gotta allow a nice jewelry case. 
Sounds like you should draw up some rough plans and a materials list and trade it out for a stick or two ! That may be a way to fill that up and start you on the next one.


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

Tony. Man if I had the time and a proper shop I would be building these things. But neither do I have. My mom was a art major but none of her skill rubbed off on me. As I cannot draw a true line with a ruler. So those rough sketches would be really rough. Those displays are nice. In alot of the shops I do work in they never have any cedar lining. Most rely on the boxes for the spice of the cedar. Along with large humidification systems to combat the leaks. My door actually has a section of around one foot long that has a designed 1/16" gap in the seal. This allows some air exchange to occur. If you think about how many times a walkin is opened up and all the loss of humidity. Supply a strong enough of a system to rehydrated the atmosphere quickly and the problems solved. Once you go electronic it's a lot easier. When your relying on evaporation replenish it takes a lot longer. This is the reason a lot of folks have an issue that they do. Works. But it has to have time to work.


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## Levithetileguy (Mar 4, 2014)

TonyBrooklyn said:


> I know you said your not a Carpenter. I am a master Carpenter and i think you did a great job!
> R/G for you sir!


As am I, and that is freaking AWESOME. Very beautiful and like said very personal...I have milled around the idea of building my own, but the electric humidification scares me. Definitely inspiring brother


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

Levithetileguy said:


> As am I, and that is freaking AWESOME. Very beautiful and like said very personal...I have milled around the idea of building my own, but the electric humidification scares me. Definitely inspiring brother


Levi. Thanks. What exactly scares you about the electronic humidification? I understand the water and electricity close proximity concerns. In actuality it's only 12V anywhere close to the water. Not enough amps to causes shock. The controller that I have is 110V. If I had known I could get one that works off 12V I would have. I currently have 4 110V outlets in the top of the humidor. Three constants and one that's switched to controller the fan on the humidifier. 12V coming in would have been a lot less work. Eliminating the need for separate transformers for the LED lights or the fans. Live and learn.


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## Levithetileguy (Mar 4, 2014)

Not the water I just don't quite understand the humidification device and don't want to make it a swamp or a desert. The wiring isn't an issue just making sure I make something where I can control the climate consistancy. I am out of town for work quite a bit and would hate to have something that I would have to worry about. Or worse come home to 100s of ruined sticks


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## T.E.Fox (Jul 11, 2013)

Beautiful work!


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## Jpickett (Jun 24, 2013)

Levithetileguy said:


> Not the water I just don't quite understand the humidification device and don't want to make it a swamp or a desert. The wiring isn't an issue just making sure I make something where I can control the climate consistancy. I am out of town for work quite a bit and would hate to have something that I would have to worry about. Or worse come home to 100s of ruined sticks


I understand the fears. But with the controllers it's really fool proof. Here is a link to the one I used. The prices for these are all over the place. Due to not being to post links google humidity controllers and look on ebay. They come in 12V 110&220V. They will send u the correct AC voltage for where you live. Here is a pic of what to look for 
If u need help with wiring let me know.
View attachment 84612


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## lilonex3 (Apr 12, 2013)

WOW!..................... just WOW..................... That is one amazing piece you put together. Kind of makes me want to build one myself!


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